Just checked out this picture last nite at one of the only (actually THE only) theater playing it in town. I must say, whether a totally accurate depiction of Crane or not, it certainly displays a sad, dark, decent of one man's life into the sick world of porn and sexual addiction. In Crane's case it eventually cost him his life. What a sad, tragic way to go. And what a legacy to leave behind. If in fact Crane was trying to break out of that `scene' near the end of his life (and one hopes he really was), he just waited too late. After so many years of that, it finally caught up with him.
I think rather than degrading and defaming Crane (Crane did that by himself), it shows what one had (a family, a career) and threw it all down the drain. He and Carpenter (Dafoe) were dependent on each other to fulfill their sexual fantasies and addiction, and it seems that that was the only purpose for them being together. Why else would Crane hang out with a creep like John Carpenter? Throughout the whole film, you keep asking yourself `Why is he even associating with this guy?' The sad, serious music in the background helps one feel for Crane, as his life gets deeper and deeper into darkness.
Personally, I think Dafoe did a convincing job of portraying a man out of control, with almost no real personality of his own. More or less a leech. When that leech saw his life source (Crane) was about to be cut off, he took the initiative and killed it before it had a chance to go it's own way. As far as Kinnear, his performance was believable to an extent, except he seemed to youthful and `carefree' at times to convince us that the real Bob Crane was that two-dimensional. I think the role of Richard Dawson was miscast, looked like a guy about half his age. Kurt Fuller as Werner Klemperer (Klink) was perfect, could've been his twin brother.
Bottom line -- recommended.
*As a personal note, I think it's a disgrace that one of his sons (Robert Scott Crane) is offering public access (for a fee of course) on the Internet to view the pornographic videos of his late father. Somehow, I don't think the late Bob Crane would be too proud of that.
I think rather than degrading and defaming Crane (Crane did that by himself), it shows what one had (a family, a career) and threw it all down the drain. He and Carpenter (Dafoe) were dependent on each other to fulfill their sexual fantasies and addiction, and it seems that that was the only purpose for them being together. Why else would Crane hang out with a creep like John Carpenter? Throughout the whole film, you keep asking yourself `Why is he even associating with this guy?' The sad, serious music in the background helps one feel for Crane, as his life gets deeper and deeper into darkness.
Personally, I think Dafoe did a convincing job of portraying a man out of control, with almost no real personality of his own. More or less a leech. When that leech saw his life source (Crane) was about to be cut off, he took the initiative and killed it before it had a chance to go it's own way. As far as Kinnear, his performance was believable to an extent, except he seemed to youthful and `carefree' at times to convince us that the real Bob Crane was that two-dimensional. I think the role of Richard Dawson was miscast, looked like a guy about half his age. Kurt Fuller as Werner Klemperer (Klink) was perfect, could've been his twin brother.
Bottom line -- recommended.
*As a personal note, I think it's a disgrace that one of his sons (Robert Scott Crane) is offering public access (for a fee of course) on the Internet to view the pornographic videos of his late father. Somehow, I don't think the late Bob Crane would be too proud of that.